Quartz Mountain Magnetism

For some people, Quartz Mountain magnetism is so intense, it pulls them back again and again – even if it means driving over 3,500 miles in one month.

Evan Beasley loves Quartz Mountain so much, he sometimes makes up to three round trips each fall from his home in Denver to serve as the documentary photographer for the Oklahoma Fall Arts Institute.

Evan was an Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute photography student in 2007, where he studied with New York documentary photography Steve Simon. Evan also served as a counselor and documentary photographer for the 2012 and 2013 Summer Arts Institutes.

When he's not at Quartz Mountain, Evan works at Mike's Camera in Boulder, Colorado, where he is a photo lab technician. He's also a freelance photographer and spends a lot of his free time skateboarding. 

What keeps Evan coming back to Quartz Mountain, even when it means putting thousands of miles on his Honda Civic? 

"I still use photography techniques that I learned as an OSAI student almost every day," Evan says. "OSAI changed my views on how you can succeed in the world as an artist. I like to continue to support OAI and help get the word out to high school students that this program is available."

You can learn more about Evan and check out his photography work here. Have you returned to Quartz Mountain after attending the Fall or Summer Arts Institute? What brought you back? Please share your story in the comments section below!